CD reviews
Eliza Hull - The Ghosts You Never Catch
Midnight Alibi - Dead Broke and Rockin'
Lady Gaga - ARTPOP
James Arthur - James Arthur
James Blunt - Moon Landing
Katy Perry - Prism
Celine Dion - Loved Me Back To Life
Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP 2
Avril Lavigne - Avril Lavigne
Artist: Eliza Hull
Title: The Ghosts You Never Catch (Gaga Digi)
Genre: Electronic/folk
Rating: ★★★★
In short: Gentle
IT’S hard not to be drawn in by Eliza Hull’s magnetic vocals.
The former Wodonga girl has just released her second EP, following on from last year’s Dawn.
The word ethereal is thrown around almost every time someone mentions Hull or her music.
It’s definitely got a mood about it as Hull delivers a combo of lite electronica with folky lyricism.
Like Dawn, it’s incredibly warm.
Echoes opens the EP (after the intro Head Above Water) and rides a heavy kick-drum.
It’s a livelier effort than anything else on the EP but it’s not a dance track. It's Florence-esque.
Christopher showcases Hull’s wonderful voice in a downbeat but powerful effort, Ready For The Fall might be the EP’s most commercially accessable moment and a definite highlight while the dreamy Ghosts is a fitting closer.
Artist: Midnight Alibi
Title: Dead Broke and Rockin'
Genre: Rock
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Fierce
“WHISKEY, weed and LSD,” are the first three words that snarl from Border rockers Midnight Alibi’s latest CD.
It’s a refreshing refrain after all of this week’s pop music.
And while I can’t condone the use of such psychoactive and psychedelic additives, this IS rock n’ roll, old school style.
They’re set to unleash this reckless life at Lavington’s Boomerang Hotel tomorrow night.
Fans of the likes of STP, GNR and Airbourne will dig Dead Broke and Rockin’.
The tracks are raw, the vocals are raw and that’s exactly what has been lost in this age of perfectly preened pop packages.
Dead Broke and Rockin’ is also snappy.
No track hits four minutes with tracks like highlight Not Evil galloping along to three on the dot.
The boys don’t let up either until their more relaxed Pearl Jam/Silverchair-eque closer Break My Fall, another standout along with Play Toy and Silicone Valley.
Artist: Lady Gaga
Title: ARTPOP (Universal)
Genre: Pop
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Artful
“URANUS ... don’t you know my ass is famous!”
Of course, Lady Gaga.
But while nonsensical lyrics will forever be Gaga’s schtick, what often gets lost thanks to her bizarre antics is one simple fact: the girl can sing the hell out of a pop song.
So forget she’s nuding up everywhere and have an open-minded listen to ARTPOP.
Aura opens proceedings with a Spanish guitar lead-in and a Tarantino-esque script before ascending into total dance-pop chaos. Gaga’s back with some big beats!
Venus — where the ‘Uranus’ lyrics reside — is suitably catchy with a big 1980s disco vibe.
Similarly Do What You Want with R. Kelly revisits 1990s R&B and there’s THAT voice again.
Sexxx Dreams is better than its horrid title, classic Gaga really, MANiCURE is a lil’ wacky rocker and Jewels & Drugs with TI and Twista sees the Lady tackle hip-hop for a certain single.
Artist: James Arthur
Title: James Arthur (Sony)
Genre: Pop
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Soul-soaked
James Arthur might be the UK’s equivalent of our own Guy Sebastian.
Stick with me here.
Both come from reality show backgrounds, both boast that throwback soul style lost on many pop upstarts and both have an arm or two full of tatts.
Arthur, the winner of the UK’s 2012 X-Factor series, has already treated us to his exceptionally original vocals with the hits Impossible and You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You.
And there’s plenty more to like on his self-titled debut.
New Tattoo, early on, oozes soul and style while Roses, a string-draped duet with the exquisite Emelie Sande is just that — exquisite.
A future hit, for sure.
I really felt the Sebastian connection on Suicide, an aching blues ballad delivered in powerful fashion.
Acoustic takes on Impossible, You’re Nobody... and two others round out the CD very nicely.
Artist: James Blunt
Title: Moon Landing
Genre: Pop
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Likable
JAMES Blunt is a bit of guilty pleasure — not many are willing to readily admit their fandom.
I like Jimmy.
And maybe it’s me, but it seems his music has become inherently more interesting over his past two records.
Where JB was one immersed in melancholy he is now more often bouyantly brilliant.
New single, Bonfire Heart, is one such moment — with a chorus you simply can’t erase.
On Moon Landing, Jimmy swings between pop-rock delights and patented Blunt ballads (the poignant Sun On Sunday and Miss America).
Bones is triumphantly upbeat, Postcards is summery with a reggae vibe and Heart To Heart handclaps its way to a highlight.
But lyrically Telephone is a worry: “I just wanna be your telephone ... Charge me up, turn me on, I love it when you use me all night long.”
Artist: Katy Perry
Title: Prism (EMI)
Genre: Pop
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Mature
LADY Gaga took to Twitter the other night to denigrate rival Katy Perry: “I write for the music, not for the charts” tweeted the Applause singer.
There was no rebuff from Perry, after all she isn’t the one flashing the flesh to promote records.
Perry’s new album is always going to be up against it thanks to its predecessor Teenage Dream, which spawned five US No.1s.
Fact is Perry writes terrific pop music. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s spot-on most of the time.
Singles like the girl-powered Roar and the strong ballad Unconditional lead Prism, which rolls around all corners of the pop music barn.
Birthday is straight-up pop, International Smile is a cheeky Daft Punk clone and Walking On Air borrows its vibe from 1990s house.
Dark Horse dips its toe into trap and This Is How We Do, another hip-hop flavour, is this album’s Last Friday Night.
Artist: Celine Dion
Title: Loved Me Back To Life (Sony)
Genre: Pop
Rating: ★★★
In short: Edgier
The original title of Celine Dion’s 11th English-speaking CD was Water And A Flame.
It was after a song originally done by Australian Daniel Merriweather in duet with a then semi-known UK singer named Adele Adkins.
Yep, that Adele.
In short: Dan Facebook-flamed Celine who dropped the CD title but kept the song.
The new title track, however, also boasts an Aussie connection with SA songstress Sia behind the swirling album opener Loved Me Back To Life.
R&B star Ne-Yo duets on the urban-styled ballad Incredible and penned the standout Thank You while a take on Stevie Wonder’s 1985 hit Overjoyed excellently features the man himself.
Elsewhere, long-time collaborator Diane Warren provides the poptastic Unfinished Songs and At Seventeen is a lovely acoustic take on an oft-covered 1975 Janis Ian tune.
Artist: Eminem
Title: Marshall Mathers LP2 (Universal)
Genre: Hip-hop
Rating: ★★★½
In short: Vitriolic
FUN fact: Eminem is 41.
And he’s as abrasive as he was at 28 — his age when he dropped the original Marshall Mathers LP, home of hits like The Real Slim Shady, The Way I Am and the megasmash Stan.
The Marshall Mathers LP 2 captures a similarly fiery mood from Eminem, who has battled addiction before triumphantly delivering Recovery in 2010.
Legendary rock/rap producer Rick Rubin builds the menacing backbone here, starting with the aptly-titled Berzerk, sampling Billy Squier’s The Stroke.
Rhyme Or Reason takes us on a funky ride as Em spits in his trademark stop-start manner. Rihanna delivers a huge hook on the current single The Monster and Survival Of The Fittest, from Call Of Duty, is suitably militant.
So Far... might be the CD’s most interesting moment — reggae fused with classic southern rock riffing and clever samples.
Artist: Avril Lavigne
Title: Avril Lavigne (Sony)
Genre: Pop/rock
Rating: ★★★
In short: Marital bliss
AVRIL Lavigne is now married to Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.
Cynically, plenty of you are going to immediately dread any sort of musical collaboration the smitten duo might create, after all Kroeger, despite his countless hits, is consistently denigrated for his contribution to music.
So, on Avvy’s new CD, Chad chips in, co-writing almost the entire record and dueting with the missus on her new single Let Me Go.
It’s really not all that bad, a patented Lavigne power-ballad with an orchestral cloak.
Patented Lavigne also best describes most of the CD.
If you’re a fan, you’ll love it. There’s teen angst (17, Here’s To Never Growing Up), stadium singalongs (Rock N Roll) and even a freaky future single with one Marilyn Manson in Bad Girl.
Lavigne is certainly more grown up in elements and, in others, reaches for the comfort of what made her famous.